BLACKBURN'S Scottish international Paul Dickov is out for a month with a bizarre thigh injury in a major blow for club and country.

Dickov hurt himself in the warm-up for the game with Austria last week and the problem has been diagnosed as a tear that will mean four weeks on the sidelines.

The fiery striker has the identical trouble to Craig Bellamy who was injured training with Wales just 24 hours before and is out for the same length of time. Dickov was already in the middle of a three-game suspension for his club, after being sent-off in Blackburn's opening match of the season, the 3-1 defeat at West Ham.

Now he will be missing from Mark Hughes's side until the end of September.

But worse still for Scotland, fiery forward Dickov is also out of the do-or-die World Cup qualifying clash at home to Italy on September, leaving coach Walter Smith without his most experienced available front man.